


Hawkward Ficlet: Asante Sana Squash Banana

by elluvias



Series: Hawkward Hawke [3]
Category: Dragon Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-07
Updated: 2011-09-07
Packaged: 2017-10-23 12:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/250329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elluvias/pseuds/elluvias
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A ficlet in the Hawkward Universe. An attempt to help explain why my Hawkward Hawke is who he is, originally posted on my tumblr decided it would be more easily accessible on here. Oddly enough, not a kinkmeme fill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hawkward Ficlet: Asante Sana Squash Banana

“So there he sat, staring up at the sky wondering what he should do when behind him he heard a faint voice singing ‘asante sana squash banana. Asante sana squash banana. He he he he he.’ There in a tree, as old as the Silent Plains itself, was Rafiki the wise man and shaman for the previous king Mufasa, Simba’s father.”

Bethany sat hugging her doll as she stared wide eyed at her father as he told the story. They were in the hole again, Father, Bethany, and Julien. It was a tiny cave more than a hole, it allowed for the three Hawkes to sit somewhat comfortably for a hole in the ground. Bethany had already claimed her second favorite spot, which was situated firmly between Julien’s legs as her elder brother wrapped his arms around her. It was…a game to her still. Hiding in the cave, or hiding anywhere, while Carver and Bethany distracted the templars.

“Simba, irritated that he was being interrupted from his very important thoughts, moved away from the tree going towards the river. He walked onto a fallen log, stretching over the river, and laid down. Content to stare at the water and think about all his troubles, when suddenly in front of him a pebble was thrown into the water! ‘Asante sana squash banana we we nugu’ Rafiki sang. ‘Will you cut it out?’ Rafiki laughed as he jumped down from the tree ‘Can’t cut it out, it will grow right back.’ The wise man cackled as he began to follow Simba who had decided that he wanted to find some place quieter to go and tried to walk away.

‘Creepy little monkey.’ Simba muttered under his breath. ‘Will you stop following me?’ He asked Rafiki, irritation growing at having his important thoughts interrupted by the seemingly insane old baboon.”

When it could, hiding time was story time. Some days they couldn’t, as some of their hiding places were far too close to the house for talking or any noise whatsoever. Those times father gave Bethany a potion to drink, one that would make her fall asleep. Julien hated those times, where Bethany was asleep and he and father sat in pensive silence as armored boots stomped overhead, or next to them. Father and Mother had learned from experience, and while Julien had…mastered some of his fear, had learned not to cry or shake when they got wind of templars coming near, had even learned to hide the telling signs of nervousness from Bethany, they’d found other ways to keep Bethany and Carver quiet.

Julien buried his face in Bethany’s soft hair for a moment, holding her closer as he gently reached out and touched the spot in his head that was her. He basked in the warmth, the happiness that she found in the story. This was the only time he pushed her questioning pokes in his head away, where he put up a small wall between them. She needed to be calm, safe, happy, and let him worry about templars and circle towers that would smother them and take away all sense of happiness and life. He wouldn’t let templars take Bethany. He might be clumsy, and awkward, and he wasn’t that strong, but he would protect her.

He had to, he was her big brother.

Strands of silvery white hair mixed with the black, creating a strange streaked look to his hair. His mother said he’d look distinguished when it finished changing, his father only grinned and ruffled his hair. He didn’t let them know that he’d heard them talking, how father had quietly reassured mother when she had begun to fret over it. ‘He has a strong connection to the Fade, dearheart. It is putting stress on his body, he might seem frail, but when he’s trained he’ll be stronger than even I am. It seems to be the way of things, the stranger or more unusual an appearance the stronger the mage. He’ll…He’s going to be fine Leandra, don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to him.’

He might be odd, a sore thumb, in a family of dark haired individuals. He might be accident prone and tend to illness, but he’d protect his sister and brother. He was strong, with magic. He’d stand between Bethany and the templars and he’d give her time to escape with father. He knew he’d do this, he knew it was his duty to do it, even though no one told him he had to.

“’Who are you?’ Simba snapped at Rafiki. The wiseman grinned, tilting his head and looking into Simba’s eyes like so and said ‘The question is: Whoo are you?’. Simba looked at the ground dejected. ‘I thought I knew, now I’m not so sure.’

‘I know who you are. Shhhh come here, it’s a secret.’ Rafiki grabbed Simba’s ear and dragged his mighty lion head down, the wiseman leaned in close and said ‘Asante sana squash banana’ The wise grew louder ‘we we nugu! Mi mi apana!’ dancing away from the lost prince.

‘What does that mean anyway?’

‘It means you are a baboon, and I’m not. hehehehe’

‘I think you’re a little confused.’ Simba muttered as he began to walk away.

‘Wrong! I’m not the one whose confused.’ Rafiki reappeared infront of Simba, poking a wisened finger directly onto Simba’s nose. ‘You don’t even know who you are.’

‘Oh and I suppose you know?’ Simba said, rolling his great lion eyes and trying once again to walk away from Rafeeki.

‘Of course I do, you’re Mufasa’s boy.’ Simba stopped and turned, staring at the baboon. ‘Bye!’ Rafiki waved his hand and started to run off.

‘Hey wait!’ Simba called out after Rafiki, following the surprisingly nimble wiseman. Finally they stopped, Rafiki sitting on a boulder, legs folded like so, arms like this with his eyes closed.

‘You knew my father?’ Simba asked, breathless, panting after running so far after Rafiki. ‘Correction I know your father.’ Rafiki intoned.

‘I hate to tell you this, but he died.’ Simba said sadly, unable to look at Rafiki, still feeling guilt over Mufasa’s death.

‘Nope wrong again!’ Rafiki said cheerfully, laughter in his voice as he got up from his rock, grabbing his stick and running off again. ‘He’s alive, and I’ll show him to you. Follow Rafiki, he knows the way!’”

Julien knew the story from here. And sometimes, he even thought he understood it. He understood you didn’t lose the ones you loved in death, because parts of them still lived inside you. That the past…while painful sometimes, had lessons to learn and reasons for being the way it was. Whenever Carver and Bethany heard the story, they wanted to be lions, the wanted to be king and queen and rule over the savannah.

Julien though… He didn’t want to be a lion. It wasn’t that he didn’t think that lions weren’t important or that they weren’t grand. He wasn’t a lion, he wasn’t strong in body, or terribly noble in spirit. No one was going to look to him for the strength of ruling a nation. No, Julien wasn’t a lion.

Julien wanted to be Rafiki. He was a silly boy, and he knew he didn’t…look at the world the same way that everyone else seemed to. He was odd, strange, unusual. He grasped the ideas that seemed to go over Bethany and Carver’s heads. He didn’t want the glory or the fame, he…didn’t even particularly care about being normal. Julien was going to be alone, he knew that. He knew with his magic and his odd appearance he couldn’t…be like everyone else. He knew he was different from even Bethany and Father in some…miniscule way that he didn’t understand.

So if he was going to be alone, but himself, he wanted to be Rafiki. A wise man, a strange misunderstood man who if people only really listened to his advice then the world would be a bit of a better place. Yet no one wanted to listen to Rafiki, because he was strange, because he saw the…strangeness and the wrongness of how things were even when they were normal. So he tried to explain to the lions, to guide them through wisdom, on how to make the world a better place.

Father finished telling this part of the story, and how Simba realized he needed to go and change how the pridelands were being ruled. Bethany smiled and Julien smiled with her, though his eyes still held a bit of worry. They were going to sleep in the hole tonight, and come out sometime in the afternoon, if Mother didn’t send Carver with word that they needed to stay longer.

It was quiet as Bethany began to settle down into the small nest of blankets they kept in the hole. She curled up and like a kitten, once the lantern was dimmed, she fell into a peaceful sleep. Julien waited quietly, and the moment he knew that Bethany was in the deepest parts of sleep he got up and moved towards his father.

“Father?”

Father turned his head, his scruffy face kind and familiar and everything Julien ever associated with security and safety. It was now, when Bethany was asleep and they were alone, without Carver to worry about getting jealous when Julien asked for Father’s attention or Mother who would not so secretly try to listen in to their conversations.

“How will I protect them if you ever go?” Father looked startled by the question, by the serious look on his eldest’s face. “I’m not Simba.” His voice was quiet and earnest. “I’m not a lion, I’m Rafiki. If you go and I have to protect them, how do I do it?”

Malcolm reached out and brought his eldest to him, easily situating the boy to be sitting on his lap. He hugged Julien to him tightly.

“If you’re Rafiki, Julien, you’ll protect them through wisdom and temperance. You’ll look at everything, and you’ll do your best to understand it all, to look past appearances and prejudices and make the decisions based on how it is going to work out in the end. Not at that moment, but in the future, two days from now, two months, two years. You’ll see it all, past, present, and future and you’ll understand what you have to do…and when you don’t you can pretend to be a little crazy, a little silly, and let your instincts guide you.”

Julien wrapped his arms around Father, hugging him close as he nodded. Understanding what his father was saying. He wasn’t going to use power or strength or posturing to protect and preserve his family. He was going to use foresight and thought, understanding and temperance to keep their family together.

“Let’s not talk of such things though. You’re going to have me here for years yet.” Father reassured Julien and the uneasy fear that always bubbled up in his belly whenever he listened to this story was eased momentarily. “Now go curl up with Bethany and sleep, I’ll think of a happier story to tell you tomorrow.” Julien nodded and let go, knowing that he’d probably thrown his father off by his question.

Going over to Bethany he carefully curled himself around her, holding her close and doing his best, even now, to be a protective shield. He pressed a gentle kiss to her hair, easing down the wall in his mind against her. Taking in a deep breath he closed his eyes.

“Asante sana, squash Banana.” He murmured to her, drifting off to sleep to the sounds of his father’s amused chuckle.


End file.
